Wreck found off Donegal may be the `Carrickatine'

A team of divers from the Naval vessel LE Aoife will investigate if an unregistered wreck reported on the seabed by fishermen working off the Donegal coast is the Carrickatine. The fishing trawler disappeared in November 1995 with six crew on board. Following a preliminary investigation of the fishermen's report by the Department of the Marine, the Minister, Dr Woods, has directed that Naval Service diving expertise be used to assist the investigation. Dr Woods said yesterday he was "acutely aware of the pain of the relatives of those tragically lost in the Carrickatine" and promised they would be kept closely informed of the progress of the operation. However, he cautioned against "any premature conclusions" that the Carrickatine had been found. The deputy chief surveyor of the Department of the Marine, Mr Seamus McLoughlin, will direct the operation, which the Department hopes will be completed in the next few days.

The Carrickatine disappeared 60 miles north of Malin Head in 1995. The boat was skippered by Mr Jeremy McKinney and was crewed by his brother, Conal, Mr John Kelly and his son Stephen, their cousin Mr Terry Doherty, and Mr Bernard Gormley, who celebrated his 18th birthday the day before the trawler disappeared.

The largest search and rescue mission ever mounted off the Irish coast, involving 400 people, more than 40 vessels, the Air Corps and the Royal Air Force, covered an area up to six times the size of Ireland between November 1995 and February 1996 without finding the boat. Poor weather conditions and the number of existing wrecks in the area made the search particularly difficult.